#and the crazy thing is that none of them are duplicates

[stars-for-astarion]

ASTARION taking all my blood and all my photo gallery……

There truly is no better way to explain how down bad I’ve been for this man since release bro

[glitteringcrab]

I FIGURED OUT* HOW THEY DID THE SWITCH

*maybe

AND IT'S BRILLIANT

Soooo @jerrysbeestruther had figured out the moment of the switch (spoiler alert; it's this moment)

If their theory is right, Eyepatch Morty's yellow portal did not lead them straight to Prime's lair, but... somewhere else...

...where Eyepatch Morty armed Morty Prime with a special eyepatch (which my guess is can read minds, heal the wearer from injuries... and yes, mind-blow the wearer) and with those little yellow override cylinders. In addition, the two kids had actually time to plan a switch between them (we know Eyepatch Morty has a huge time crystal in his home, so all that is possible).

But in any case, we didn't have the how of they did the switch. @jerrysbeestruther's original theory involved a mind-swap of some sort, but I no longer think that's the case (although I do think they were right about the "moment" of the switch). I think it was an actual body swap of some sort.

Of course, one would think "oh, it's just some sci-fi method to instantly switch places. This is Rick and Morty, they have crazy science stuff, the exact how doesn't matter"...

...and they would be right.

Of course, it would also be cool if the method was already discreetly introduced by the show, but, eh...

And then I was just thinking today, that we absolutely do have a method to make people instantly switch places that was introduced by the show.

But it wasn't discreetly introduced.

In fact, we have heard it explained "in great scientific detail"...!

BOOM:

...aaaand a way to restore the timelines in the way they were before.

BOOM:

The cherry on top for this is that we don't know if Eyepatch Morty has ever faced this plotline, but we know for certain that Morty Prime has heard the idea explained, in great scientific detail. I'm willing to bet anything that HE was the one who pitched the idea of the switch to Eyepatch Morty, who had the equipment, resources and knowledge to take Rick's shitty idea and expand on it, improve it, and make it more useful than any Rick was ever willing to do.

So what happens is:

1. The kids isolated a moment in time,

2. Split the reality in two. In the vat-of-acid episode, Morty "splits his probable selves", but that would result in two Morty Primes and two Eyepatch Mortys, so some more elegant method, or a workaround would have to be used.

3. Shunted each other into the other's near-duplicate, equally probably reality, both transported into each other's reality at the moment of parallel determination.

The great, brilliant part of it, is that there isn't one Morty who takes another's place (in which case the copy has to... die).

They're both taking each other's places!!!

4. Then they merged the probable realities. It's even possible that two Morty Primes and two Eyepatch Mortys were indeed created, but they were insta-merged without horrible things happening to the original before the merge (that some Morty had to experience), so it was functionally the same as temporarily splitting the timeline without splitting the Mortys.

In the end they're both left in ONE reality, switched in the blink of an eye, with none of Rick's horrible drama.

BOOM

SWITCHED

Of course, I could be wrong, and it could be something entirely different. But I do think it would be so much better if the switch was based on something already introduced by the show, and I can think of no better example.

In addition, there is no accompanying pink cloud, but I don't think this is all that important. Either Eyepatch Morty was a lot more careful (this technique had to be performed right under Rick Prime's nose...!), or this is just what the switch looks like from the perspective of an external observer.

My favorite parts about this theory:

Eyepatch Morty and Morty Prime worked together

The switch was performed right under Rick Prime's nose

It was 100 times better than the shitty cruel thing Rick did

IT WAS MORTY PRIME'S IDEA

[tenna-talks]

THERE'S MORE THEN ONE SENTIENT TALKING TV... I already saw one. And now I've seen another. How many duplicates or well- uh how many multiverses are there? And none of them have answered my dying question: WHAT IS THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT??? What is dark world magic? How does it make TVs sentient? How does it work? WHERE IS THE SCIENCE???

I think I'm just crazy... yeah... that's it. It's me. This is internet lies. That's it...

But even then how does that work???

-regards the one who sleeps @littlelambtori

P.S: How'd I even get here???

My graphics team have informed me of this thing called-

[what does this note care say? AUs? What? - . . . Ohhh]

Alternate universes. Or as the cool kids say, AUs! It's like something out of your favorite quirky sci fi movies or fantasy movies. Both that can be watched on TV!

[Mike. What the $&@? Is an internet?]

As for science! There is no science! It's all magic! Just like the stuff that's used to power your stove!

[unnamed-atlas]

Not to be back on my analyzing the permit office conflict through the lense of real world politics bullshit again but. There's something really interesting to me about the ways that these types of conflicts on the server will come so close to actual commentary and then break down into little family friendly easy to swallow centrist conclusions at the end as everyone comes together to wrap up the storyline because like. Everyone's friends and they don't want to portray any one side as being fully in the wrong, even when one side actually is when you apply any real analysis to them.

Like. The permit office were blatantly evil for the vast majority of this storyline. They were an unregulated government agency with their own personal police force who used that police force to commit violence against their political opposition and scare those on the edges into complying. They created their own personal prison island on the edge of the world to isolate their opposition from the rest of the population and when their enemies were doing a little too well out on said isolated prison island they sent out one of their men to psychologically torment them with more indiscriminate violence to coerce them into complying through terror. They used emotional manipulation at every turn and made interacting with their actual systems of governance as difficult and tedious as possible so that no one would bother to challenge them.

The No Poe might've been unorganized, especially in the beginning under Jev's leadership, but they didn't do much more than some recruitment posters and some harmless pranks before the permit office escalated things to Exile. Jev never brought their demands to the permit office properly but they were simple and genuinely good ideas. Distribute duplicate permits to promote competition in the shopping district and bring down prices. Distribute those new permits through permit master. It wasn't until the permit office made Jevin a martyr by exiling him that anything escalated on the no poe's end, and even then they attempted to have peaceful negotiations to put an end to the whole thing and the permit office responded with resolute violence. They hunted Joe Hills for weeks, killed him a dozen times, took his gear but made him return theirs, play respectable so that maybe they might listen to him. All while tormenting those they'd already exiled.

There is no question when you pay attention to this conflict from the beginning that this is a story about authoritarian violence and the people it's being enacted on, their struggle against it.

But you get to those resolution episodes and suddenly everyone is on the same page that both sides are in the wrong. Jevin was crazy from the beginning, he was poisoning people's minds. Sure the POE took things a little too far but they were justified in their escalation in response to the No Poe. Ren and Cleo deserved exile for their prank. The collateral, all the people they exiled just to flex their power, are just that, collateral, it's fine, no hard feelings. Really let's all put all this behind us. It's fine. We all made mistakes, we can get along again. And it is this sudden strange tonal dissonance. Because everyone still agrees the permit office has to go. The members don't even want to work there. But they can't exactly say. Why. Because the permit office weren't any more in the wrong than the no poe, right?

There is a ghost of authoritarian violence hanging over this resolution and none of them will look it in the eyes because they've locked themselves into a medium where they can't. They have children in their audience who won't understand. Who will be upset if their fave is punished for their actions or truely treated as a villain by their friends. It's also just. Not that serious. They all know that. They're doing play pretent in a video game for entertainment. We all know that it's not that serious. But god. If you look at it a bit closer. It sure could be.

[damnfandomproblems]

7290:

Not that I'm necessarily complaining, but WHO keeps sending in all these bi asks?! Bi men, bi characters? Not saying not to send them, if they're problems they're problems, but I've followed this blog for years and NEVER seen as many as I've seen in the last 2-3 months. And none of them even seem like the same exact problem. It's just strange to me. Was there a paradigm shift in a big fandom? Is there an ultra popular bi character? Is there a fandom where bi people have a much larger voice?

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

Yes, I've also noticed a lot of very similar submissions themed around shipping bi characters, or fandom being biased against male fans, that I suspect the majority to be coming from the same person or handful of people.

A lot more like them are already lined up in the queue, despite my best attempts to space them out somewhat. I tend to give the benefit of the doubt most of the time when similar submissions are sent in because it's possibly multiple people experienced similar things, and only delete duplicates or near-duplicates (similar enough that it's unlikely two different people would articulate their thoughts the exact same way.) But we did receive quite a few within a short timespan.

Due to how far the backlog goes back, it's possible some people have sent in their submissions more than once, either forgetting they've already sent them or assuming they've been lost when they didn't come out within a few days.

The posts we're seeing now were submitted in late 2023, and if I'm correct that it is the same person sending them, they're still sending in similar submissions even up to today.

[thegeminisage]

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA ECHOES OF WISDOM FINAL VERDICT

SHORT VERSION: minor nitpicks but rad as hell

LONG VERSION:

what i loved about eow:

zelda getting her own adventure, FINALLY. it matters so much to me <3

the thinking aspect of it. i'm used to trying a puzzle a few times and then looking it up if i can't get it, but eow made me WANT to throw myself at the wall until something clicked. it made solving puzzles even more satisfying than in link games, somehow. though i had my initial concerns over not getting a "real" sword, i didn't really miss it until the final fight, and most of the time, i went out of my way to avoid using it if possible, because i wanted to be creative. in fact, even while playing, i looked forward to being able to watch other peoples playthroughs to see how they tackled certain puzzles differently from me. it's so fitting to who zelda is in the lore that it's crazy to me she wasn't een in the original concept - she just fits so PERFECTLY here, as if they'd designed it for her from the ground up.

the way link mattered in the story without stealing the stage (everywhere except the final boss, which i have mixed feelings on). i know that link's function is to act as a stand-in for us, but in this project especially, it's nice to see him get some personality - i think he's earned it!

i ALSO really loved, of course, the final dungeon and working together with link to solve puzzles. the last zelda co-op game we had was four swords where everybody had the same abilities bc they were all link, but what if we had one with link and zelda where they had different abilities? it was so exciting and rewarding to finally get to work with link after all the mystery surrounding him and the fights with his evil duplicate.

the stilled realm stuff was incredible. i had so much fun in the rifts i wish there had been more of them. picking your way around that fucked up landscape is great

being able to cheat your way around any landscape is great also. like i can get to hebra from the ground with enough platbooms, i can jump over tree barriers, etc. it made me feel like a master of the world.

i liked tri! not the most standout companion, but they were just confused enough about basic emotion and nonplussed about things in general to be funny and make me fond

in fact, most of the secondary characters were a lot of fun. i was pretty neutral on wright and lefte and the gerudo ladies, but the zora leaders, impa and lueberry, and of course, conde - they were all fantastic. zelda's dad not being shitty for once was a really nice touch, too.

loved all the callbacks to other games - the deku scrubs, the river vs sea zoras, volvagia, big blue pig ganon even though he sin't my fav

speaking of, i'm not mad about the lore either. it fits with what we know so far and it was GREAT to hear from the three goddesses again when it's been like 20-something years. i was kinda mad when they got shunted aside for hylia and i'm glad nintendo is bringing them into co-existence again

most of the time the music was just okay but when it was good it was REALLY fucking good.

overall, the story was absolutely charming, filled with mostly fun characters and environments and a creative mechanic and a world i cared about saving. none of that feeling i got from totk sometimes where i went "wait, what?" or "this is bullshit!" except maybe when the goron had to break the picture of his dead dad lol.

what i did not love about eow:

my absolute #1 main complaint is the quality of life bs. i should NOT have to go through so many dialogue boxes for a task that is repetitive. minigames that have a 20-second time limit where i spend almost as much time skipping thru the dialogue to try again? come on. smoothies? the dojo? these are things we do dozens, perhaps hundreds of times per playthrough. there is NO NEED to make it that tedious. i would have had a LOT of fun experimenting with smoothies if it hadn't been so tedious, but instead i went out of my way to avoid using them because i was dreading having to sit through the animations and dialogue boxes for more. and there's no quick retry for minigames, either. for the dojo where one misstep means you'll have to start over, all you can do is quit early and then go through the dialogue ALL. OVER. AGAIN. it is 2024!!! surely when they played the game they got annoyed by this too! what are we doing!

similarly, while i didn't hate the slidey menu as much as everyone else cuz i got pretty good at skimming it, it's still nuts to me that they couldn't come up with anything better, perhaps involving some sort of category. sometimes i want platforming echoes and sometimes i want combat ones. separate them!!

while the final boss was FANTASTIC in mood and presentation, my echoes and automatons being kind of useless + me being denied a sword made me feel like i had nothing to do but run around and dodge and watch link and my lynel fight the boss. this is a tricky one because i'm not sure what could possibly be changed to make me a more active participant and still leave link his sword (his presence elevated it so much - much like zelda's does in final fights against ganon), but it felt just an inch to the left from perfect for me

automatons in general - i was really hype for them, but most of them don't even move around on their own, and they're so slow a fast-paced combat sitch will obliterate them instantly. which would have been PERFECT for the final boss where i wanted a more direct means of attack, but they'd get toasted before i had a chance to wind them up. JUST removing the winding element would have improved these greatly without any other change at all, but it's another quality of life thing

the horse was also useless, but the horses have been useless in every game since majora's mask, and even in majora's mask it's iffy.

the world DID feel a little small sometimes, but i think that's the natural result of being able to cheat your way around it - and i wouldn't change that.

finally, the music - most of the music for the overworld sections was boring, where the dungeon music occasionally had more character. i was a little disappointed there wasn't more of the old melodies aside from little snatches of them here and there. i definitely understand composers wanting to do something new, but if their new something is this atmospheric, unhummable stuff...that just doesn't feel like a zelda score, you know? that said, again: when it was good, it was GREAT. that final boss fucking rocked.

overall this made me SOOOO ready for an oracle or minish cap remake from grezzo and absolutely RABID for zelda to have her own 3D adventure someday. they thought it wasn't possible but it ABSOLUTELY is, and the co-op sections near the end were especially wonderful and something i'd love to see in a mainline title someday. yes, this game was flawed, but it wasn't flawed the way totk was, it was overall a great joy to play and well worth both my time and money. there's very little i would change.

and, on a mushy real life note, echoes of wisdom did also help me get through the 15-day power outage after hurricane helene...i started the game just before the hurricane hit and finished it just after i got my power back, so helene kind of defined the experience of playing it for me. i'll never forget sitting in my dark bedroom with all the windows open and the generators going outside and my switch just propped up on my monitor stand, surrounded by battery packs, my only light from flashlights or candles, trying to help the time pass and enjoy the game while keeping a clooose eye on my battery life. it was one of the very, very few things i could look forward to in an uncomplicated way every day, and having something to keep me going was vital to my not just going nuts. zelda games usually seem to come out when i need them most! and i'm grateful to her too <3

[rikki-roses]

Fluffy February Day 9: Grass

Set on Yavin IV During Shadows of Revan; Nico is about 10 months old

Kevra sipped her caf as she watched her young son play in the grass with her twin sister. Nico had just started walking, so she had decided to bring him along on the expedition to Yavin IV instead of leaving him with a nanny. She had started to regret it by the time they landed - Nico had refused to nap and had resisted bedtime while in hyperspace - but Setra had rescued her by taking Nico as soon as they touched down, duplicates of everything Nico would need ready to go on her own ship. That had been an unexpected, but welcome, surprise - none of them had expected Setra to bond as quickly, or as strongly, as she had with Nico. The bond was mutual, too - Setra was the baby's favorite person besides his parents, even outranking Ashara and Khem Val. The two were completely inseparable when together, and now was no different.

Nico decided to toddle over to where Kevra sat, fingers tightly gripping Setra's hands as she bent over him. Kevra had to sit her caf down quickly as Nico toppled into her lap, giggling; Setra flopped down in the grass next to her. Kevra turned to her twin as the two situated themselves.

"So, is your crew sick of him yet?"

Setra shook her head as she reached for her mostly-forgotten tea. "Just Tharan, really, but I think Holliday's bringing him around - I heard him mumbling about baby-proofing his lab so that he can stop closing it off when we've got Nico on board."

"I thought Zenith wasn't a family guy either?"

It took Setra a moment to answer as she was in the middle of sipping her tea. "He usually isn't, but he said it's different with Nico since he's my nephew and I don't have him all the time. Nico's the exception to the rule, basically. And the others love him, of course - I'm half convinced that we're giving Qyzen Baby Rabies."

Kevra laughed at the sudden thought of Qyzen surrounded by a horde of small children. "That doesn't surprise me, he's such a marshmallow when he wants to be. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts bothering you for grandkids by the end of the year."

Setra almost choked on her tea, snorting hard. "With what love life? Besides, I remember how Nico's pregnancy went for you."

Kevra raised an eyebrow at her twin's reaction. "Didn't you and Theron talk things out after we all landed on Yavin IV? Nadia mentioned the two of you were sneaking around again."

Setra shrugged in response, chewing her lip. "We did, but neither of us is good at the whole attachments thing. And he's like Zenith - tolerates Nico, but isn't really a family guy. Not that it matters anyways, I'm not sure I even want children; I like being the resident Auntie."

Kevra plucked at the grass, doing her best to hide her smile. She wasn't going to say anything beyond what Nadia had commented on, but she knew her twin was full of shit: she herself had seen the way Setra and Theron looked at each other when they thought nobody else was watching; she saw how they interacted with Nico when together. The two idiots were already crazy about each other, and neither one of them could admit it.

Their conversation was cut short as both of their comms buzzed; it was time for the archaeology team's daily check-in. Kevra scooped up her son, and they walked over together, a knowing smirk on Kevra's face.

[everygame]

Devil World (Famicom)

Developed/Published by: Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems / Nintendo Released: 05/10/1984 Completed: 18/01/2024 Completion: Saw all the levels (there’s only three.)

I’m not sure I can think of a company as venerated as Nintendo. A company that’s ultimately considered peerless–a promise of reliability, of quality, but with a mystique that somehow makes it all impossible to duplicate. While it’s made mistakes, they’ve always been mistakes that only Nintendo could have made. We might buy Apple products, or use Google, but even if we liked what they did at one point, we’re by now tired of the greed, the privacy violations, the churn of samey products, the enshittification. It’s hard to tell anyone apart. But not Nintendo. They stand alone.

Which I suppose is why it’s nice to go back and play these old games and see that just like everyone else Nintendo basically has no idea what they’re fucking doing. I mean, this. Devil World. Made with the gay abandon that only Asian developers can have about western religious iconography, it takes Pac-Man (sort of, more on that in a minute) and throws in random auto-scrolling and the need to collect crosses and bibles to survive while the devil dances at the top of the screen like he's in Haxan. It’s textbook weird and I’m sure it’s been in all sorts of Angry Video Game Nerd or Seanbaby-type videos but I’m not looking them up and neither should you.

There’s two things that are crazy about this. One, it’s that it’s apparently the first Famicom game that Shigeru Miyamoto directed. It’s a pretty early original title for the system (outside of sports titles) and it strikes me to what extent that even after Donkey Kong Miyamoto was still finding his feet as a designer. In fact, as I subscribe to the theory that Super Mario Bros. is more heavily based on Pac-Land than Miyamoto might admit (“sky colour” my arse) I wonder how much Donkey Kong was inspired by Space Panic, the proto-platformer, and Miyamoto simply “hit” on the tweaks that would make it eternal as he would do with Pac-Land. Here… he is not successful. In fact, the concept just feels sort of… unfinished. Half-arsed.

To put it in more detail: On the first stage of Devil World, you are navigating a fairly small wrap-around maze (a la Flicky) but one that moves in a random* cardinal direction for a random* amount of time, meaning you can get squished between walls and the edge of the screen. There are monsters that move around the maze (but who don’t seem especially bothered about chasing you, at least to begin with) who kill you on touch, but you can kill those by collecting a cross and firing a fireball at them. The cross, also, is the only way to collect the dots around the maze. It runs out after a set amount of time and then you have to collect another (though there’s a bunch around the level, and they don’t run out.)

*There may be some system to this, but I never worked it out.

On the second stage, you’re still avoiding the monsters and trying not to get squished, but you’re collecting four bibles and taking them back to the central “seal” (think the central ghost box from Pac-Man) to get to the next level. 

The third stage is a bonus level with no enemies where you’re trying to collect six bonus boxes before time is up. The level is still scrolling randomly, but there’s some arrows in the level that… allow you to move the direction? Maybe? 

Ultimately… none of this works. The random level movement and wall squishes feel, well, random. Having to collect the cross to pick up dots feels arbitrary, and the bible collection is sort of… pointlessly easy? And it’s all rather slow and unresponsive. 

It’s possible that these were Miyamoto’s attempts to “level-up” the maze chase game the way adding jumping created the platformer and then when it didn’t work, well… the game had to come out. But maybe it’s also the fault of the second crazy thing about Devil World. Rather absurdly the game’s other designer, Takashi Tezuka, had never heard of Pac-Man. Doesn’t seem like the best foot to get off on when you’re, you know… cloning Pac-Man, to be honest.

Devil World is one of those examples of a game where some people tried something to make something already good better, and everything they did made it significantly worse. Wait… they enshittified Pac-Man… Nintendo aren’t different at all!!!!

Will I ever play it again? It simply isn’t worth the time.

Final Thought: I was honestly very surprised to discover that this was actually released in Europe in mid-1987 despite being not released in the US due to the ol’ religious iconography. Rough for the weans who got a copy of this that late in the game.

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[ohmyglai]

20 years ago, I met this young man out of nowhere as textmates.

Mga bata pa, baliwag din. Sya yung kausap ko sa mga panahong mag-isa ako. Pero never kami nag-usap about problema. Chill lang. At mga kabaliwan.

And then, out of nowhere, sa mga panahon na kailangan ko ulit ng kausap, bigla syang nabuhay.

I always believe that everything that is happening now is already written by God. None of it was random, it's all part of a divine script fully written by Him in His perfect time. That somehow along our prayers, the universe conspires and helps us to be here. Maktub.

After 20 years, (imagine ang tagal in the making, how lucky I am, may nagawa siguro akong mabuti to be blessed like this), we were given a chance in this lifetime to share stories of how we become, from nobody to somebody, to be proud of one another, to remind each other that somewhere out there, we are not alone in this life. To remind each other to be righteous and crazy at the same time. And that it's okay to be not ok sometimes because we are humans. He is a reminder that I am only human. He knew things I never told anyone about. He knew my secrets and fears that only God knows. It's as if I have found my duplicate.

Who would have thought that; that friend from long time ago can give so much impact to the rest of the days I have in this life.

On how amazing it is to be alive from the simplest joy he brings. On how attentive he listens and looks in every detail. Such a good soul. Napakabuting tao. Napakabait. Walang halong kaartehan at kaplastikan. Madiskarte. Mapagmahal sa pamilya. Maawain. Mahal na mahal ang Ama sa lahat ng bagay. Di mo iisipin na ganun sya kabuti kasi maangas itsura nya.

Yung tipong naiiyak kapag nanood ng movie na may tatay na umiiyak.

Yung tipong bibilhin agad pag may nakitang naglalakong tao sa daan na may dalang cabinet.

By nature, he was blessed with softness and kindness that somehow I also possessed. Isa syang soulmate na kaibigan.

I'll always wish him the best and all the good things in this life and will always pray for his genuine happiness. He deserves all of them.

That may he find the peace of mind he's been looking for in each morning and each night when his thoughts get caught up by his emotions. And that may he fight his own demons when they attack out of nowhere.

He is such a dear friend to me and he will always be special. More than special. I love him for what he is. I love everything about him it's just that it's not allowed. I wish I have met him earlier but I don't want to be greedy. To see him and given a chance to be with him in this lifetime is more than enough.

Without his message that day, I will never be the person I am today.

Baka tuluyan na ko naging manhid, katawang kalahating patay-kalahating buhay.

Thanking God everytime I remember him.

(Philippians 1:3)

[hydrus]

Version 595

windows

zip

exe

macOS

app

linux

tar.zst

I had a great week. I've got several quality of life improvements, and a user has figured out native Ugoira rendering.

full changelog

Ugoiras

Ugoiras are an unusual gif-like animation format from Pixiv. Getting them to play in hydrus has been a long time goal, and thanks to a user who put a bunch of work in, they now work out of the box. You don't have to do anything; any Ugoiras you have in your client will now play in the media viewer.

If your Ugoiras have animation timing data inside their archive (those downloaded with PixivUtil or gallery-dl should have these!), hydrus will parse this and render frames for the correct duration. There is also an option to present this info in a file note. If there is no timing data, hydrus will fall back to 8fps.

There's more technical data here: https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/filetypes.html#ugoira

All your Ugoiras will get a metadata rescan on update, so it might take a few minutes for any duration data to fully kick in.

We are now planning possible ways we can add the Ugoira timing data using the hydrus downloader engine, which would finally allow in-client downloading of properly animating Ugoiras. Let me know how today's update works for you, and we'll see what we can do.

other highlights

All multi-column lists now sort case-insensitively. A subscription called 'Tents' will now slot between 'sandwiches' and 'umbrellas'.

All 'file logs' in importers now load much faster. If you had slow subscription or session load, let me know how things feel now.

The 'Favourite Searches' star button now supports nested folders in a hacky way. Just put '/' in the 'folder name', and it'll make submenus for you.

I fixed a bug where setting a pair of potential duplicates as 'not related' would sometimes merge modified file dates. You might get a popup about it on update about it to reset file modified dates for any files that were previously affected.

OR predicates get some more work--you can now 'start an OR with selected', which opens the edit panel and then replaces, 'dissolve' an OR back to its constituent sub-preds, and the menu and UI got a little polish.

The 'urls' thumbnail right-click menu has a new 'force metadata refretch' command, which makes it easy to redownload Post URLs to get tags and stuff again. You don't have to manually set up the url downloader with a custom 'tag import options' any more--hydrus can do it for you.

new build

The build today folds in some library updates the advanced users and I have been testing. As far as we can tell, there are no special update instructions needed, so just update as normal. If you are on an old version of Windows/Linux and you have any problems booting, let me know.

next week

I did some placeholder duplicates auto-resolution UI this week, and I'm feeling better and better about the whole system. There's still a lot to do, but none of it looks too crazy. I'd like to keep pushing on it a bit. Otherwise I'd like to just do some boring code cleanup.

[kizzer55555]

Don’t mind me, going through all the reblogs and adding all the ones I like into one thing. This contains reblogs from @bet-on-me-13, @beesarekindaswag, and @zylev-blog 

What if the different Videos are basically Themed differently?

The Fight Videos are all themed like Found Footage, having been recorded by a Human Duplicate of Danny as the Original Body did the actual fights. Danny would chase around his Original as he and the Rogue fought to their hearts content.

...

The Amity Exploration Videos are themed like normal Vlogs, just Danny walking around, talking about Amity and the different Locations he has been to. Sometimes he complains about his Life, or just gives Normal life updates. But in the background you can always see something crazy happening, because it's Amity.

You'll see Trash Cans floating, before someone just smacks them with a Broom as they fall to the ground.

You'll see Blobs casually perched on Power Lines and on Buildings just chilling like Birds.

You'll see a normal Human walking their 4 ft tall Cat down the Street as if it's a completely normal occurrence.

...

The Realms Exploration Videos are themed like Steve Irwin/Bear Grills type documentary videos, with Danny doing a fake but fun Imitation of their voices as he explains the intricacies of the Realms Wilderness and Beasts.

"And this is the rare Blood Blossom. It's a Magical Flower and one of the few things that can harm a Realms Being, but it's also Invasive, so..." *lights it on green fire* *the flower seems to scream and cry out as it is buring away*

"Now let's be quiet for a second. You are now witnessing one of the Realms most dangerous Beasts. The Hill Crabs ate giant crabs that can eat anything! And their Armor is hard enough to withstand practically anything as well. Thankfully this one is small, but let's be careful to not attract the adults to the location" *points to the 'baby' which is the size of a mountain already*

"Now don't worry, these kind of Ecto-Pi are non-hostile normally. It's okay for them to wrap around my neck like this, but be sure to give them a good thump on the side if they start squeezing a bit too tight. They will understand and loosen their grip...unless it's an Ecto-Pi of the Asphyxia Family, which is practically indistinguishable from the normal variety and will tighten their gri-" *starts choking as the ecto-pi tightens its grip* "cut the feed! Cut the feed!"

(The next video is a Cooking video dedicated to Realms Dishes. The main dish? Calimary.)

Due to Amity shenanigans, none of the League can get in contact with Danny through regular means; emails won’t reach, phone calls won’t go through and don’t even get started on the weird barriers keeping them physically out…

Long story short - they resort to the most dignified of communications… Danny’s twitch chat.

“Hey, thanks ‘theJusticeLeague’ for the follow - really appreciate it”

Yeah, it wasn’t the best plan

Danny: so like, theJusticeLeague is really adamant about getting me to leave Amity??? Like no?? That’s just a recipe for disaster

Tucker; stranger danger, dude.

Sam: I mean, what’s the chances that it’s the actual Justice League anyway?

Okay so, Danny is a streamer. A rather small one, actually, but his viewer count is limited to Amity park due to them operating on a different server than the rest of the world.

Now, Danny has been exposed as Phantom, and the reveal went well and by extension, Vlad has been exposed as Plasmius too and they're on somewhat friendly terms.

Most of Danny's streams involves him fighting with ghosts, or exploring the zone (with a device thankfully able to survive in it with both Tucker and his parent's amazing help). Heck, some of it is even just either wandering around Amity Park or involving ghost animals of some kind.

Funny thing is, even though the reveal went good, he's doing all this as a human.

Somehow, his streams get leaked out to the wider world and some havoc is caused for a few individuals.

The Batfamily is so concerned and confused, because there was this kid? Fighting villains??? Then this same kid was also going into some place filled with what looked like some weird strain of Lazarus Water (it isn't Lazarus Water at all, actually, but they don't know that).

Meanwhile, Constantine needs the strongest alcohol available, because he's very, very certain that this kid is fighting with ghosts from the Infinite Realms and stepping into said Realms with no fear for his own life.

"And this here is where the Ghost King sleeps guys! 0/10 would not recommend waking him up, he gets cranky and I barely put him back to sleep last time!"

THIS KID HAS DONE WHAT!?

[dani-r]

I had a moment of remembrance of my crazy childhood (all lives and childhoods are crazy, of course, but, please, let it be known that I had a really crazy one). This little story is about my first and last attempt at stardom as a child actor on screen. It has some exciting twists! Bear with me, is long-ish, but is one of my favourite “weird dani anecdotes” to tell at parties. Here, for you all, with 5 minute drawings!

My brother’s father (not the same father, but the same mom) had lots of friends from the independent film scene here and one of them needed children of four or five years old for a short film he was directing. So mom, seeing already a histrionic and bombastic nature in her eldest child, saw it as an opportunity to cultivate that inclination.

So she took me to the studio where they were going to film the scene, it was in San Telmo, one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. I remember it so clearly: looking around, fascinated by the old colonial buildings and asking about the narrow, so narrow streets, and mom telling me that this place was old, hundreds of years old, so the streets are narrow and short, so different from our block. Love at first sight. To this day my favourite place in the city.

We arrive and my next memory is seeing a group of children with their parents. I remember looking at each other with the caution and distrust a priori that you got when you are five and meet another unknown five year olds. The adults there (now I know that they were the production team) gave us kindergarten uniforms. I was… in awe, it was a private school uniform! Like, the green plane colour ones with a big blue pocket. I was, for some hours, a private school kid. I was looking and touching the uniform completely transfixed on that. In hindsight, seeing how private schools are here, I am so, so glad I had public education from 4 to my 30s —we have great free public schools and universities— but at the time, to me it was a sign of a kid “living large”.

They put us all in a room and I don’t have so much of a memory of that except for three things: I was fascinated by the amount of wires and machines in front of me, the fact that a kind-looking woman with glasses was behind the biggest machine (it was a camera) and that mom was not there (we knew, after, that they took all the parents outside the room with the excuse that we could get distracted during the shoot, which, fair. But we will know in the next scene of this story the exact motive, stay tuned, this gets fun).

They put me at the side of a big woman with a trenchcoat and a blond perm that told me to “be calm and look like this:” and made an expression of worry, with her hands together in front of her. I, of course, saw that and put my hands together exactly like hers, and nothing more. In five year old Dani’s defence, I saw the hands! And she told me to look like her! Technically, I was right. So I stayed like that and nobody noticed the duplication of poses.

And then. Silence. I remember the silence. And then, shouts, so many shouts, a big guy, with a leather jacket, comes fast, shouting at us so much and shaking a gun (I was aware, via television and some neighbours, of dangerous dudes with guns). I was confused, and everything was so fast. 

Suddenly that same shouting guy grabs me by the shoulder, manhandles me and I feel the gun on my temple. I remember, crystal clear, to be… confused. Just, utterly confused. Because in front of me were the big cameras, and the people there were exactly the same as before, the same expressions and attitudes, like nothing was happening out of the ordinary. So it felt weird, none of them reacting like the ones behind me. So I just... stood there, in the hands of the noisy guy, with a gun on my head. 

Next thing I remember is my mom being furious. And telling me that what they did was an awful, unethical thing to do and that they were “unas basuras, tremendos hijos de remil puta” [garbage people, fucking sons of bitches]. That they did that to extract an expression of fear out of me, instead of telling me to act. She let them have it, I can tell you.

She never spoke again with the guy, but I asked her for a long time about that “movie I was at” that she got a copy years later and I was able to see it, finaly, when I was ten. It was crazy seeing myself in a moving image (I mean, the next time in my life that I get filmed at will be at 14, filming was expensive before smartphones and nobody in my family owned a home camera or such). I saw myself as a super small child, in a 2 minute scene inside a very pretentious and shitty short film, being used as a hostage. And let me tell you: It was hilarious, priceless, absolutely incredible. Because the scene is ruined by my expression. There is a close up of my face and the gun, and I am… kind of smiling, a confused and completely out of place smile. I am so bemused by all that there is no fear, only confusion. I am smiling with a fucking gun on my temple. A bewildered five year old being manhandled and threatened on camera making a face of "huh?". I ruined everything for them. They had one shot of that, they had to use it. 

The lesson of the story: If you ever film with kids, they are not stupid, but you may be (if you do things like this). Just explain to them about acting, about pretending. Practise if you want a less “play pretend” act and more of a subtle thing. Don’t obscure your intentions, not only because is a shitty thing to do —and this dude was lucky that I was already a weird child, for a less weird child this could have been a traumatic experience— but also because the scene is going to be absolutely fucking ruined and it will be funny as hell. 

Today mom is bringing what we think is the actual vhs with the short film. I am getting next week the equipment to be able to see if she’s right. I wish so hard for it to be that shitty short film, because I will have finally the greatest treasure I desire since there is web 2.0: the best profile picture ever, forever.

[diezmil10000]

Hi hi, hope you're doing well!! Wanted to ask if you could explain how you pick colours! They're always so appealing to look at... (If you could also explain how you pick blush colours it'd be great! I never manage to pick good ones, no matter how hard I try :'))

hi anon, i'm doing fine!! it's summer right now where i live and that's healing all my problems (⁠◡⁠ ⁠ω⁠ ⁠◡⁠)

i have recorded the process of some of my drawings and everything is posted in my youtube channel (in twitter too), so i'll drop the link here and try my best to explain the coloring part to you. the short answer is that none of the colors you see in my drawings are similar to those i initially picked.

i try to keep my lineart loose but i pay attention to the outlines so i can quickly select the outer parts, invert the selection and fill it with the bucket tool. my base colors are all 100% opaque and i don't use any fancy brushes here.

as to how i pick colors, i never use the color picker tool, i eyeball everything. that's important for me because i tend to make all of them warmer: the greens are dark yellows, the pinks are light reds, and everything that's close to blue is very desaturated. i do this even for drawings that turn out much different later, unless i have a very specific vibe in mind from the beginning. i also never use pure whites for anything, and if something is black i make it part of the lineart.

then i always color my lineart!! there's no trick to that, the layer is in normal mode and i just paint it with a darker color than what's below it. i usually add the shadows and highlights at this stage of the drawing too. you're going to kill me for this but shade with gray set in color burn or linear burn (never multiply). i just don't want to think about color variety at this stage because it makes things more difficult for later. sometimes i add textures and some basic color correction here (curves, color balance, layers set in overlay, etc.) but i mostly leave that for the next part.

as to how i choose blush colors, i usually pick the base color and move it towards the saturated end of the color wheel, and a bit more pink. sometimes i add a multiply layer and airbrush hot red over the base colors at low opacity. coloring the lineart with hot colors surrounding the blush areas helps a lot too :)

i also almost always duplicate the lineart, blur it and set it in linear burn (i paint this layer in a light gray). this adds a lot of depth to the drawing, especially if later combined with the bloom effect.

the key to why the colors in my art pop so much is that i don't enjoy drawing as much as i enjoy postprocessing pictures 😂🤣😅👌✌️👍 once i'm satisfied with the "base" colors i merge everything except the background, open a new canvas and go crazy with filters and textures. that's why i use ibispaint X even if i do the lineart elsewhere (krita), and even if it works a bit wonky with big canvases.

i do something different for each drawing here, so first i'm going to explain my reasoning so that you understand my process: i used to have a problem of using very strong colors that overshadowed my beloved lineart into which i had put a lot of effort, so my goal nowadays is to make everything look less contrasted without losing the visual impact of saturated colors. that way the lineart remains a strong point and not just a way to separate one color from another.

what i usually do is duplicate the new merged layer, set it to exclusion mode, add a gradient map and play with the opacity. then i duplicate that and do the same thing with another gradient or another blending mode. i tend to add like 3-6 layers of bullshit over my drawings, including textures and other filters like "bloom" or "sharpen". i understand everything that's going on there but i don't think too deeply about it, i just pick whatever looks best.

for the final touches i always pull up the saturation and contrast (since a lot of it gets lost in the process), and i usually have to manually change some colors (ibispaint X has a filter to do that) or tweak the curves. then i add chromatic aberration, noise set to overlay and little polka dots set to linear dodge.

here are some comparisons of the before and after of recent drawings. the 1st one is very subtle, but you can clearly see how much warmth and depth it gains it gets after all the postprocessing. the 2nd one is so different that i understand why you're curious about how i pick colors. i don't think i can replicate that look just from picking nice colors, there's a lot more going on!! the 3rd one personally feels like it had potential lost (i liked the yellow highlights), but the colors were too strong and all over the place, so the finished result looks more intimate and calm and i like it a lot more.

thank you for the interest anon, i'm very happy that you like the way i color things and i hope i have explained myself. good luck with your own journey!!

[guiraguira]

Hi!! I hope you’re having a good day ^^ if i already sent an ask sorry my memory is lagging on me rn TT may i request gentaro x reader who were together in a past life but it ended badly… and they meet again in the present/their current lives? sorry if this is too complicated or anything no pressure to do it😭 anything with gentaro would do!!

Through time ❤️

Hi honey!💜 Don't be afraid to duplicate the request if you don't remember sending it, apparently it can happen that some questions get lost on tumblr.

It is the first time that Gentaro has been requested! Your request had a very romantic and harrowing feeling, or at least it seemed so to me! So maybe I went a bit too far

Warnings: none, slight anguish but has a happy ending.

Gentaro x reader

° Since you were little you had really vivid dreams, but lately that had intensified. They were so real and persistent that they caused you anxiety when you woke up, you needed to do something but you didn't know what it was and that caused you more discomfort.

° Before you could hardly remember what happened in them, but now the faces of the people who appeared in them were engraved in your eyes and there is someone in particular who occupies most of your mind. The feeling of happiness that filled your chest when you found it persisted even after waking up, accompanying you for the rest of the day.

° It was the face that you remembered in more detail, you knew that he had a romantic role in your dreams, they had shared caresses and kisses to the point that you could recognize him even without being able to see him, the silhouette of his body was traced with your hands almost memory.

° You needed more information about what was happening to you, but you were afraid that they would think you were crazy. What would you say? That you are in love with a dream that you have? There is no way they will take you seriously. At least you wanted to know if that person existed, it was impossible for it not to be so.

° On your way to work you passed by a temple and although you don't believe in gods, it was the only thing that occurred to you. Praying for the possibility of meeting him or knowing his name, anything would be fine with you. Obviously nothing happened, or so you thought.

° You began to be able to hear in your dreams and even smell, finally the pieces fitted slowly. You were embarrassed when he first said your name, taking your hand before kissing it and showering you with promises of love. "Gentaro…" came from your lips in response and from that moment his name was engraved on you, but the happiness did not last long.

° Unlocking your memory, their days together became visible, all those romantic words that were secretly dedicated to their families firmly against their union came to an end the day they were assassinated escaping from their homes under the tree that they had so many times witnessed their encounters.

° "even if a thousand years go by we will meet again, I will always be waiting for you" whispering to you for the last time, sharing a sad kiss before losing consciousness and surrendering to death holding your hand. Since that dream you had not seen him again, as if fate told you that now it was your turn to continue.

° Searching for any indication of him, if you remembered everything he should be in the same condition, you had nothing else to look for him than his name which, like yours, you hope will be maintained. Maybe his face is the same but there's no way to tell.

° You could only be guided by a few chills that ran through your spine on certain occasions, which dragged you almost like a magnetic force to the same sanctuary that time. Walking slowly down the stairs, letting your gut show you the way. Your knees are losing strength as you see that tree, the same one under which they died, getting closer until you touch its bark.

° "Gentaro… I'll wait for you too" the chills suddenly become more persistent, they cease when a pair of arms wrap around you. The warmth of his body, his scent and the way he hugs you, it's him, he doesn't say anything but it's not necessary. It is impossible that you did not know how to recognize it.

° Barely recovering, you look into each other's eyes without stopping to analyze each faction in the other's face, verifying that it really is you. You take her hand intertwining her fingers with yours "We were finally able to escape, this is our moment… S/o" They put their foreheads together, closing their eyes before joining their lips in a passionate victory kiss that was delayed for years.

° He caresses your cheek with his thumb leaving a soft kiss on it too. Placing a hand on his chest, you feel his heartbeat and hug him again. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet sooner, I missed you so, so much..." At the same time a lone tear runs down your face and he rushes to wipe it away with a kiss.

° "No, no, no... our first meeting can't be an apology" he tucks a lock of your hair behind your ear and sits leaning against the tree, inviting you to do the same. His past life is so fresh in his memory that you naturally sat on his lap resting your head on his shoulder.

° They needed to be this close to each other, maybe even closer, but there would be time for that. "S/ o, the number of times I came back to this place are so many that I couldn't count them, I knew you would come here too… I love you so much" his hands caressed your back in a constant rhythm as he continued to express his love for you.

° This situation was so normal for you that when the words of love went to the kisses increasing in intensity, you had to stop before it escalated to the next level. Laughing at how easily they got carried away.

° "Even if a hundred thousand years go by, we will meet again, I will wait for you forever Gentaro…" sealing the promise with a kiss, he laughs, taking your hand before putting it to his lips "then we will be together for all eternity, not two lives are enough for us…" His eyes shone with such sincerity and mischief when he confessed that you couldn't help but kiss him passionately again, agitating yourself in an exaggerated way.

° You would definitely have all of eternity to yourselves, but you couldn't see much further at the moment. They spent the rest of the day under the same tree chatting non-stop until night came and forced them to retire.

[erza-scarl3t]

If Robin could clone herself

It is true that Robin only has the ability to create a clone of herself and a giant clone and It would be a shame if she didn't sprout multiple clones of herself.

When she will be able to sprout a very high quantity of clones of herself, the only change is that there would be one or multiples Robins in the ship 24h/24 as you will have numerous duplicates around you and in the ship.

She could do multiple tasks in the ship, play and talk to several crew members, be very caring and protective of you and her friends, and walk around numerous places if she used her clones.

Know that a Robin is the type to tickle you to laugh a little, the Robins that will encircle you, multiply instantly, and tickle you enormously that will be impossible to escape

If Robin intends to go out alone and you don't want to part with her, she could leave you at least 10 clones of herself or more (or even thousands of clones) so that you are with one or more Robins around you 24h/24 and 7d/7

Sanji and Brook would be the most affected seeing also numerous Robins everywhere in the ship, that they will beg her to clone herself multiple times, but as Robin is very nice she could also leave them at least 10 clones of herself or more for each of them, there will be Robins for everyone in the crew.

Robin rarely tends to get upset if you imitate a member very badly Especially chopper or do things she does not like at all, so with multiples Robins will be even worse they will be cold with you and fortunately none of the Robins will not hurt you as much as they all remain very nice

Be careful if you intend to play hide and seek, know that Robin can find you at least a minute if she uses her powers especially with multiple robin will be impossible to hide in the ship because they will find you even before you find a hiding place, a real cheater

If one or more Robin offer you to take a bath just with you, do not hesitate to accept his proposal because they would all be very happy to take care of you, forget a private moment and enjoy taking a bath with all these Robin all beautiful and sweet around you that will make you happy.

As Robin is the queen of hugs and she could give you a hug if you need it, multiple Robins multiply more and more until there is enough for you, they will encircle you and give you lots of big hugs and lots of kisses, believe me you will never be able to escape and resist you in the face of all these Robins all beautiful and sweet.

The ship is sometimes flooded and filled by many duplicates of Robin, The number of Robins in the ship would be abused, even the crew would be surprised at the number of Robins in the ship, Robin has trained so much to sprout many clones that she could sprout Millions or even billions clones of herself. So many Robins everywhere and far too numerous in the ship that it's almost impossible to find the real one, No matter where you go in the ship, there will always some Robins everywhere and very far too numerous for you and...

Puff puff puff* all the clones disappeared and the whole crew was confused and Robin is exhausted because she sprouted a lot of clones

The whole team would be very happy to see Robin clone herself at will (especially Sanji and Brook who will be crazy in love with all these beautiful Robins) It's like you have lots of moms on the ship and in the crew.

In the future Robin may be able to sproutan clones of herself to infinity, a very large quantity of giant clones or even an numerous demonic clones or all three at the same time if his devil's fruit would be awakened, Robin would be very overcheating that she could be the strongest member of the crew after Luffy But the amount of flowers would be very abused for robin but it would have been with pleasure to have infinite Robins, numerous giant Robins or an very large army of Robin in the crew

As long as you are kind, adorable and cute with all these Robins, believe me they love you very much, they can offer a cookie or candy, they take care of you (as with Chopper), they will all be very happy to be with you and they could multiply numerous times more and more until there is enough for you and encircle you to please you.

Life with all these Robins all beautiful, kind, gentle and very far too numerous around you and in the crew, would be your greatest happiness and you'll never be bored with her and Maybe they will be all in love with you finally one day (Even if it never happens)

[littlelovelyspiderling]

Meeting The Real You (Chapter 3)

Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Chapter 7 -- Chapter 8 -- Chapter 9 -- Chapter 10 -- Chapter 11 -- Chapter 12

AO3 story link

Peter Parker can't wait to meet the newest superhero team to enter the scene: The Fantastic Four. More importantly, he can't wait to finally meet another superhero his age: 16-year-old Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch.

That is, until he does. And Johnny turns out to be a grade-A dick.

But maybe there's more to Johnny than Peter initially thought. Maybe he's not just an egotistical media star, or a short-tempered hothead, or an alarmingly pretty face who makes Peter's pulse race. Maybe they have more in common than they realize.

And maybe this feeling that overwhelms Spider-Man anytime Johnny is around isn't jealousy after all...

word count: 5,008

_______________________________

Tony Stark was tinkering with a new arc reactor design when Spider-Man came bursting into the lab, startling him so much he almost swallowed the allen wrench he was carelessly holding between his teeth.

“Well, you were right about the Fantastic Four,” Peter announced, slipping the mask off his face. Stark spat the wrench onto the floor, turning towards Spider-Man with a hand against his chest.

“Good god, kid. Can you knock?”

“They all hate me because of the things they’ve heard from the Bugle,” Peter continued dejectedly, undeterred. “And Johnny Storm is nothing but an arrogant jerk-wad.”

Tony stood from his seat, his bewildered expression morphing into a sympathetic smile. “Aw, kid. I’m sorry. Did something happen?”

“Look at this!” Peter exclaimed, fumbling for his phone and holding it up for him to see. “Johnny set fire to a tea shop yesterday while the Fantastic Four were fighting some weird robotic dragon, and the Bugle is blaming Spider-Man for it! I wasn’t even there!” He backtracked, swallowing. “I mean…I was there, but Spider-Man wasn’t! Ned and I were in the cafe he threw a giant fireball at, and we had to rescue the people inside from burning to death.” He tapped furiously at the screen. “This is the title of Jameson’s latest video: The Fantastic Four Saves the Day Once Again! But Did Arsonist Spider-Man Try to Sabotage Their Victory? Watch Now For the Full Story!”

Stark couldn’t help but chuckle. “That guy will twist anything to make you the villain, huh?”

“It’s even worse than that,” Peter continued miserably. “Listen to what Susan Storm had to say when someone asked her about me.”

“Sue! Sue Storm!” the woman in the news footage cried, shoving a microphone in her face. “What is your response to the allegations being made that Spider-Man set a building on fire and is trying to get the public to blame your brother Johnny?”

Sue cast a wary glance in her brother’s direction, who was busy loading Dragon Man into a large police van. Then she turned back to the paparazzi. “We try not to take every crazy rumor we hear too seriously. Everyone knows Johnny is an amazing hero with the world’s full support behind him. I doubt anyone believes he would intentionally put people in harm's way.”

The crowds cheered in response, waving handmade Human Torch banners and signs.

"As for Spider-Man,” she continued, voice hardening. “There seems to be a lot of speculation surrounding his character. While I hope none of these allegations are true, all of us must be vigilant of the people who call themselves heroes and hold them accountable when they aren’t living up to that title. The Fantastic Four have done everything we can to earn the people’s trust, to be transparent about our lives and intentions, and to serve others to the best of our abilities. For anyone whose integrity is in question, I advise them to do the same.”

More cheers from the crowd. Jonah popped onscreen a second later, raving about the refreshing virtue of the Fantastic Four in contrast to the despicable duplicity of Spider-Man, but Peter closed his phone to silence him, hanging his head.

“I don’t understand. I’m just trying to help people. But for some reason, everyone thinks I’ve got some twisted ulterior motive.”

Tony poked him in the ribs, making him flinch away with a squeak. “It’s because most people can’t comprehend the idea that somebody would help others without wanting anything in return. You use your powers to save lives without asking for fame or notoriety or brand sponsorships. To many, that kind of selflessness is infeasible, so they can’t help but think you’ve got some other goal in mind besides protecting people.”

Spider-Man hugged himself around the middle, biting back a smile. He knew Stark was only trying to cheer him up, but he wasn’t ready to stop being mad about this. “I don’t care what eggheads like Jameson say about me,” he grumbled. “I’m just worried the citizens of New York are going to lose all their trust in me. It’s a lot harder to help people when they’re afraid of you.”

“I understand,” Tony sighed. “I’ll talk to Reed and Sue about it, make sure they stop perpetuating all these false narratives about you.”

“Oh god, please don’t,” Peter begged. “Then they’ll know I complained to you about them and think I’m a whiny tattletale.”

“What is this, fourth grade?” Stark snorted. “I’ll just tell them I saw what they said on the news. They don’t have to know about our conversation.”

“Just let me prove myself to them on my own. If they still think I’m a menace by the time they leave, fine. That’s their choice. But I’m going to make it as hard as possible for them to hold onto that belief.”

Stark laughed softly. “All right, kid. I’ll stay out of it for now. But if they keep spreading bad press about you, I’m eventually going to take it personally and have no choice but to step in. You’re my mentee, after all.”

Peter broke into a reluctant smile, shifting his weight between his feet. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“And don’t let the flammable underwear model get in your head. Even if you did commit arson and blame it on him, I’d still prefer Spider-Man’s company to his.”

For some reason, Stark’s words made him blush. Maybe because the first thing that came to mind was a magazine spread he recalled flipping through while waiting to be called in for a dentist appointment a month ago. Three full pages were plastered with Johnny Storm wearing nothing but a pair of Calvin Klein’s. Peter had caught himself studying the images a tad too long before clapping the magazine shut and stuffing it back under the stack, feeling weird and dirty.

“I wish he’d wound up being a better person,” Tony continued, snapping Peter back to reality. “It’d be nice for you to have a superhero friend your age. I know you were hoping you two could bond over that stuff.”

Peter wet his lips, scratching the back of his neck. “R-right,” he croaked out, then cleared his throat. “I mean, yeah. It’s, uh—it’s too bad.”

“Tony,” a voice called from the doorway, drawing Stark’s attention. Peter threw his mask back on before turning around. Pepper Potts stood just outside the lab, a clipboard in her hands, wearing black heels with a baby blue blazer and a matching pencil skirt. She nodded towards the elevator. “The Fantastic Four have returned from their Good Morning America segment. They’re interested in testing out the Avengers Training Arena.”

Stark grinned as he rose from his seat. “Thank you, my dear,” he said, crossing the room to stand at her side. They shared a quick kiss and a look sweet enough to give Peter a cavity. “Have FRIDAY tell them I’ll be right with ‘em.” He glanced back at Spider-Man. “I’ll meet you up there, ‘kay kid?”

“Okay,” Peter replied, pretending his web-shooters suddenly needed calibration. He felt like he was intruding on an intimate moment. He waited for both of them to leave before taking the stairs to the 82nd floor: the Avengers Training Arena. 

_______________________________

Peter heard the shouting match three stories below the floor it was actually happening on. Only when he reached the 82nd story did he realize who it was transpiring between: Sue and Johnny, the Storm siblings. Peter hid a few steps below their eye-line, once again feeling like he was interrupting something private.

“I told you not to shoot your goddamn fireballs, Johnny! Why don’t you ever listen to me?”

“You said to stop Dragon Man from reaching Astoria! That’s what I was trying to do!”

“I’d rather he got away than you burn down half a building trying to stop him! You could have killed someone!”

“I didn’t even want to be there! You’re the one who dragged me to that fight and is forcing me to go to all these press events and is keeping me trapped in this stupid fucking tower when you know we shouldn’t be here!”

“Lower your voice, Johnny,” Reed warned him. Johnny scoffed.

“Why should I? It’s not like anything I say matters anyway. None of you ever listen to me.”

“Because you’re a punk kid with no respect for anything,” the Thing grunted.

“Because you’re being ridiculous,” Susan added viciously. “If you don’t get your way, you make it everyone’s problem. You’re a spoiled brat who refuses to acknowledge how hard we’re all working to build a life out of the mess we’re in. You intentionally sabotage every opportunity we’re given when it doesn’t fit into the Johnny Storm personal agenda.”

Peter suppressed a laugh. It was satisfying to hear someone put Johnny in his place for once.

"You know we shouldn't be here," Johnny repeated. But there was something different in his tone this time. It almost sounded...sad. Hurt. But without seeing his face, Peter couldn't tell for sure.

"And you know I'm done discussing this with you," Susan countered. "We're here. We're staying. Get over it."

A beat passed before the Human Torch spoke again. When he did, his signature venomousness had returned.

“You know what, Sue? I liked you better before you got your powers. And before you got back with this loser.”

Sue gasped, appalled. “Johnny!”

“Why are we hiding?” a voice whispered behind Spider-Man, making him yelp in surprise. Antman was crouched beside him on the staircase, looking confused. “Is this part of today’s training?”

Peter flushed a little, feeling exposed. “N-no, I wasn’t—I’m not—” He clutched his chest, heart pounding. “My god, Mr. Lang. You scared the shit outta me. How’d you sneak up behind me like that?”

“Shrinking powers have many benefits. Especially stealthy ones.”

“Oh. Right.”

“So, um, again—why are we hiding?”

Before he could answer, Peter heard the elevator reach the floor they were on, followed soon after by Mr. Stark’s voice. “Hey everyone,” he greeted them, then paused, sounding puzzled. “Where’s Spider-Man?”

“Here!” Peter called, scrambling up the rest of the stairs. “Sorry, I just, uh—stopped to grab a drink of water. Gotta keep those fluid levels up, you know? Hydrate or die-drate.”

Scott and Tony gave him weird looks but didn’t question him further. Stark was joined by Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and James Rhodes. The Fantastic Four stood on the opposite side of the room, three of them feigning benevolence as if they hadn’t just been screaming at each other five seconds ago. The fourth member sat against the wall behind them, looking as grouchy and volatile as ever. 

The training arena on this floor was a little wider and longer than a soccer field. The whole room was a sterile gray color, but could be digitally altered to look like any backdrop or environment desired. There were panels on the walls that different weapons and obstacles and targets could pop out of, as well as a row of seats behind a pane of bulletproof glass for viewers to watch and control the course from. Peter had only used the training arena a few times himself—sometimes at Mr. Stark’s request, other times when his emotions were running a little too hot and he needed to punch something without holding back. But in general, he preferred honing his skills out in the city, fighting real bad guys and rescuing real civilians, not beating up robotic thugs in virtual reality.

“Pepper tells me you guys are interested in trying out our combat training course,” Tony continued.

“Absolutely,” Reed said, gazing around the impressive space. “As far as heroes go, we’re all still pretty new to this whole ‘having powers’ ordeal. I think it’d be really beneficial for us to do weekly training sessions to get more familiar with our abilities and partake in a few team-building exercises.”

“Makes sense,” Stark agreed. “Is there any specific training program you’d like to test out first?”

“Us older folk still need time to stretch before springing into action,” Ben chuckled, struggling to touch his toes. “Why don’t we let the youngins have a go at it first? I think it would do Johnny good to let off some steam.”

Tony eyed the pouting teen with a dubious frown. “All right,” he said, resting a hand on his hip. “Anyone in particular you’d like to spar with, Torchy?”

“How about Spider-Man?” Richards suggested, turning expectantly to Peter. “They seem like a pretty good match. Power-wise and size-wise, anyway.”

Peter blinked in surprise, shooting a glance at Mr. Stark. Tony met his gaze with one eyebrow raised.

To be honest, Peter didn’t really feel like fighting the Human Torch, him being a temperamental dickhead with devastating abilities who had already threatened to roast him alive once this week. But he also didn’t want anyone thinking he was weak or cowardly. Not the Avengers, and certainly not the Fantastic Four.

Besides, he wouldn’t mind knocking Johnny’s ego down a few pegs with a well-deserved ass-kicking.

“Fine,” Johnny answered before he could, standing upright. “I’ll fight Spider-Man.” He locked eyes with him, tiny sparks flashing in his pupils. “Unless you’re too afraid, that is.”

Fiery resolve flooded Peter’s veins. He’d never been a particularly competitive person, but Johnny Storm had pissed him off far too many times over the past couple days for him to just sit there and take that. This face-off had been inevitable since the day they’d met, and the smack down Johnny had coming his way was a long time coming. Peter set his jaw, forcing his voice to stay level as he casually shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not afraid,” he said, beckoning him forward. “Let’s go, Flame Face. Fighting a sentient matchstick has been on my bucket list for far too long.”

The fire in Johnny’s eyes flared. Rhodes whistled at Spider-Man’s retort, the tension strung between the two young heroes growing electric. As Johnny stomped into the arena, Natasha and Wilson began placing bets on who they thought would win.

Peter strode forward to join Johnny on the battlefield, but Stark stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

“Whoa there, you two. I’m all for a little friendly competition, but if you’re going to spar on my court, you’re going to do it safely.”

“Booo,” Natasha hollered. “We wanna see blood!”

Tony shot her and the rest of his snickering teammates an unamused look before clicking a button on his watch that opened a closet near the back of the facility. “This training center is for sharpening your skills and learning how to fight different kinds of enemies,” Stark explained as he traversed the room. “You guys can spar each other without either of you getting hurt. Using these.” He reached into the closet and pulled out a pair of high-tech, harness-looking thingies. Each was comprised of multiple metal loops that connected hundreds of octagon-shaped panels together. They reminded Peter of the chain mail armor medieval knights wore, but far more futuristic.

“Just like this room, these suits can be adjusted however we see fit. I’ll set Spider-Man’s to cover his body in a fireproof shield, and Johnny’s will be calibrated to absorb heavy impacts. That way, you guys can use your powers against one another to their full capacity without either of you being injured.”

“Incredible!” Mr. Fantastic exclaimed, starry-eyed. “You must show me how you designed such devices! Everything in this whole facility, in fact!”

“How do you determine who’s the winner if neither of us can hurt each other?” Johnny asked, mirroring Peter’s thoughts.

Stark raised his index finger in the air like a kindergarten teacher. “Great question, Mr. Storm.” He held up the harnesses and pointed to the panels strung throughout. “See all these little sensors? When you take a hit, whether it be a punch or a fireball, they’ll detect it and count it as a point for your opponent. Even though ‘winning’ isn’t really the point of this exercise, the goal is to dish out more hits than you take by the end of the five minutes. Think of it like fencing.”

“Or whack-a-mole,” Peter added.

“Sure,” Tony conceded. “Or whack-a-mole. If, you know, the moles whacked you back.”

“Whatever,” Johnny said, snatching the suit from him. “Let’s just start already.”

“Wait until we’re behind the barrier and I give the go-ahead,” Stark instructed. He handed the other suit to Peter, lowering his voice. “You sure you’re okay with this, kid? Hothead really put you on the spot there, but you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. The team already knows what you’re capable of.”

Spider-Man glared at the back of Johnny’s stupid head. “I’m sure,” he replied, throwing the metal outfit over his shoulders and slipping his arms through the sleeves. Immediately, the suit shrunk to fit his frame. It was surprisingly light and easy to move in. 

Tony sighed. “All right. I’ll be in the control booth.” He nudged Peter’s shoulder with his knuckles. “Remember: nothing to prove.”

Oh, I’m proving something alright. Proving that karma is real and particularly bitchy when you endanger my best friend and burn down Mrs. Nguyen's boba shop. And when you’re just an all-around jackass. 

There was no way in hell he was letting Johnny win.

Everyone else moved behind the thick glass barrier. Spider-Man and the Human Torch stood opposite each other in the battle arena. Stark activated both of their suits, and a bubble-like force field formed around each of them. Peter poked at the protective layer with his finger, the translucent shield rippling beneath his touch. 

“Cool,” he said. He lifted his gaze to meet Johnny’s. The boy's clean, elfish features were scrunched in anger. His blue-gray eyes looked dark and stormy. Even while glaring daggers through him, Peter couldn’t help but admire how strikingly handsome he was. It only made him want to punch him more.

Focus, Peter.

“Reminder,” Stark announced through the speakers. “Sparring is meant to train your body how to move in a fight and help you identify weaknesses in yourself and your opponent. The entire point is to make mistakes here so you can learn from them and avoid them in a real battle. That’s all this is. Don’t worry about the score, and don’t actually try to hurt each other. Got it?”

The teenagers didn’t respond and didn’t break eye contact. Tony had a feeling they hadn’t heard a word he said. Huffing in defeat, he pressed the button that rang the battle bell, indicating that the fight was on.

“Five minutes on the clock. Your time starts now.”

Right off the bat, Johnny set his whole body ablaze. He clenched his fists at his sides, yelling with effort, the color of the flames switching from red to yellow to a blinding white in a matter of seconds. Peter started to run at him but slowed down as a tingling sensation itched at the base of his skull. Holy shit, Spider-Man thought. He must be approaching four—maybe five thousand degrees Kelvin! Even through his allegedly fireproof body armor, he could feel the heat beating against his skin.

Spider-Man skidded to a stop, shielding his eyes behind his hands. With a shout, a massive blast of white-hot fire exploded off Johnny in every direction, impossible to dodge. The wave struck Peter in the chest and flung him into the back wall, knocking the breath from his lungs. Flames crashed against every corner of the arena, scorching the gray panels and raining sparks across the floor. When the smoke cleared, Johnny was left standing in the middle of the room, breathing hard.

“Um, ow?” Peter wheezed, clambering back to his feet. He grabbed at his chest, shocked to find it hadn’t been fried clean through. “What the hell was that?”

“Supernova,” Johnny panted, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. “If you weren’t wearing that suit right now, you’d be a pile of ash.”

“Go Johnny!” the Thing cheered, pumping his giant fist in the air, voice muffled by the glass. Peter glanced at the scorecard below the digital clock.

6-0.

Johnny had dealt six hit points with a single blow.

Peter was deterred at first. How was he supposed to defeat someone who could launch an unavoidable attack that dealt that much damage?

Then he stared back at Johnny, who was struggling to catch his breath and looking a bit pale. Peter doubted he had many more supernovas left in him. He’d spent his most powerful play as his first move of the fight, and was now exhausted because of it. They weren’t even a full minute into the battle yet, and Johnny was already looking tired enough to keel over.

A grin found Peter’s lips. Rookie mistake.

Without giving him a chance to recover, Spider-Man charged. Johnny inhaled sharply and coated himself in fire once again, but the flames were much smaller and dimmer. He launched a fireball at Peter’s feet that he easily hopped over. Spider-Man rolled across the ground, sprung into the air, and punched Johnny Storm square in the face.

Despite the protective shields, it was obvious from his expression the sensation wasn’t pleasant. Johnny staggered back a few steps, cradling his nose, a flash of rage igniting in his eyes.

Ding. One point for Spidey.

Johnny lifted off the ground and rocketed towards him with his fist wound behind his head. Peter jumped into a somersault and stuck to the ceiling, firing a glob of webbing into Johnny’s eyes. It wasn’t hard for him to get off, him being made out of literal fire, but it did blind him long enough for Spider-Man to kick off the ceiling and swing his heel into his ribcage. As he fell, Spider-Man grabbed hold of Johnny’s ankle and whipped him towards the ground. The Human Torch slammed back-first against the floor, a gasp tearing from his throat. The outline of fire around his body flickered weakly.

Ding, ding.

Growling in frustration, Johnny whipped his legs above his head in a crazy break dancing-esque motion, sending spates of fire in every direction. Spider-Man backflipped out of their path and dropped into a low crouch, fiery disks zipping over his scalp. The Human Torch gulped down ragged breaths as he hovered to his feet. He started slinging fistfuls of fire at Spider-Man, his aim sloppy and careless. Peter hopped and ducked and cartwheeled around his attacks, circling Johnny like a vulture, keeping his head on a swivel.

“This is like a very flammable game of dodgeball,” Peter laughed, waiting for the right moment to strike. “Except in this version, we’re also allowed to punch each other.”

He sidestepped to evade the next fire blast, then tilted his head to avoid another. It was almost pathetic how easy they were to dodge.

“How long can you chuck fireballs out of your hands? Do you have a shot limit? Do you ever run out of flame juice?”

“Do you ever stop talking?” Johnny retorted, hurling bushels of flame at his kneecaps. He paused his attack for a moment, floating a few feet off the ground, balling his hands into fists as he fought to keep himself ignited. While he was distracted, Peter made his move.

He sprinted at the Human Torch, dropping onto his side and sliding across the floor at the last moment. As he skidded underneath him, Spider-Man shot two strands of webbing onto the ceiling above Johnny and pulled the lines taught, slingshotting himself off the ground with his legs out in front of him. His feet crashed into Johnny’s gut and rammed him into the ceiling.

“Statistically speaking, no, I do not.”

Gagging, Johnny swung a weak punch at his face. Spider-Man returned with a punch of his own, then kicked him from the ceiling into the wall. Johnny bounced off a metal panel and fell against the ground, wheezing.

Feeding a thread of webbing between his hands and feet, Peter lowered himself in front of the Human Torch, hanging upside-down with a smirk on his face.

“Word of advice, Flame Brain: don’t burn yourself out in the first thirty seconds of a fight by wasting your most powerful play. Next time, save your best move for last.”

Peter flipped to land in front of Johnny and offered him a hand, seeing as there were only fifteen seconds of the match left. As much as Spider-Man enjoyed knocking some sense into that hotheaded skull of his, he still wanted to exercise his friendly neighborhood manners. He wasn’t that cruel.

But instead of accepting his offer, Johnny heaved clipped breaths, the fire on his body flaring in unison. With each intake and exhale of air, the fire grew brighter, hotter. Spider-Man took a couple steps back, worry bubbling in his chest. Is he trying to supernova again? That much exertion could kill him.

Fortunately, rather than blowing himself up, Johnny shot off the ground like a firecracker, flames billowing behind him.

“Whoa!” Peter exclaimed, narrowly skirting out of the way. The Human Torch zipped past him and rocketed around the room, moving at breakneck speed, gaining more and more momentum with every revolution. He was a fiery blur—careening left, right, up, around—barely turning in time to avoid crashing into the walls and ceiling. Spider-Man bobbed and weaved to stay out of his path, but it was becoming more and more difficult with every passing second. He made the mistake of jumping over Johnny as he roared past his legs. Before his feet could meet the ground again, The Human Torch had already circled the room and whipped back towards him. Peter yelped as Johnny plowed straight into him, sending both of them flying towards the back wall.

But the moment he struck Peter’s ribs, Johnny finally ran out of steam. The swell of fire engulfing his body disintegrated, and he and Peter tumbled to the ground in a heap of flailing limbs. After a few ungraceful somersaults across the floor, the pair of teens skidded to a stop, panting and smoking and disoriented.

“Shit,” Spider-Man coughed, blinking as he rose to his hands and knees. When his vision came into focus, he found Johnny staring back up at him, eyes hazy and face pallid. Their noses were only a few inches away from each other. Peter’s palms were flat against the floor on either side of his head, right above shoulders. And his knees were pressed against his hips, straddling his waist.

Peter froze. A rush of emotions he had no intention of unpacking flashed through his body. He wanted to move, but his brain was preoccupied with other affairs. Like studying the shape of Johnny’s jaw, taking note of the scar above his left eyebrow, counting the number of freckles on his peach-colored lips.

Then a loud horn jarred him out of his haze. “That’s time,” Tony’s voice rang from overhead. “Great job, you two. That was quite the spectacle.”

Johnny blinked lethargically, his eyes struggling to concentrate. They wandered about for a minute before settling on Spider-Man’s face. Heat surged into Peter’s ears. He’d never been more grateful to be wearing a mask.

“Uh, s-sorry,” Peter stammered, fumbling over himself as he tried to stand in the least mortifying way possible. “Um, good game? Anyways, er—I gotta—l-let me just—”

As it dawned on Johnny what was going on, how the two of them were positioned, rage blazed in his eyes as blush burned across his cheeks. “Get off me!” he shouted, bunching his legs to his chest and kicking Peter as hard as he could, flames jetting out of his feet to send him flying. Spider-Man sailed across the room and crashed into the wall, choking out a gasp.

“Hey!” Stark exclaimed from the control booth. “I said time! The match is over now. No more fighting.”

Peter lifted upright, gripping his stomach with a grimace. He peeled the armor off his body and flung it to the side, anger coiling in his gut as the Human Torch stood to face him. Johnny discarded his suit as well, gaze smoldering with hatred.

“Fucking freak,” he wheezed. With his back to the others, Johnny very aggressively flipped him the bird.

Peter’s jaw fell open. Okay. That does it.

Seething, Spider-Man marched towards him, throwing his hands in the air. “What is your problem?” he finally snapped.

“What’s your problem?” Johnny countered, meeting him halfway, fists lighting on fire. They glared each other down, assuming defensive stances, energy crackling between their locked gazes. If Johnny wanted his ass kicked a second time, Spider-Man was more than happy to oblige.

Suddenly, a skull-splitting shriek erupted from the speakers around them, making both teenagers double over with their hands clasping their ears. It was so piercing and shrill, Peter thought his head was going to pop. The sound drilled into their brains a few seconds longer before shutting off, rendering both of them stunned and dizzy.

“Enough,” Stark’s voice thundered from overhead, alarmingly fierce. “Johnny, Spider-Man, hit the goddamn showers. It’s clear that both of you seriously need to cool off.”

Kneading his temples, Peter squinted back towards the viewing area. Tony Stark was leering at them from behind the glass, finger hovering over the button he assumed activated the mind-numbing beep noise, eyebrows scrunched together lividly.

Shame flushed across Spider-Man’s skin. “But…” he began to say, feeling stupid and childish for getting so riled up. The words “he started it” dangled on the tip of his tongue, but he knew that would only make him look more immature.

Stark flipped a switch that opened a door behind them which led to the locker room. “Showers,” he demanded. “Both of you. Now.”

Johnny extinguished his hands and stormed out of the arena, muttering curses under his breath. Singed with frustration, queasy with embarrassment, Peter begrudgingly sulked after him. Before trudging through the doorway, he shot a glance over his shoulder at the scoreboard.

8-10.

Spider-Man marched into the locker room bitterly, shoulders hunched. At least I won, he thought, even though it didn’t feel that way at all.